"Science is the belief in the ignorance of the experts." Richard Feynman

A new book about astronomy and mythology for children

The Playful Planets say Hello and Watch the Rocket is a new astronomy book for children. It teaches them the names of the planets in our Solar System, and some of the myths and legends associated with them in a simple, colourful, and fun way. (The planet's personalities reflect their mythological characteristics.) They watch a rocket ship from earth fly through space, and discuss some of their fears about the human space program. A great read for all inquisitive children, aged 3-9. Learning can be fun.

Introduction

Plasma Cosmology

The purpose of this web
site is to provide an introduction to the emerging Plasma
Universe paradigm, and to explore some of the many far reaching implications.

Mainstream science,
for the most part, looks on the universe as electrically
neutral and purely mechanical; a place where the weak
force of gravity holds fort. Plasma Cosmology, by contrast,
acknowledges the electrodynamic nature of the universe.
Gravity and inertia are NOT the only forces at work.

The history of science, of course, is
fraught with controversy, and it is important to bear
in mind that the situation today is little different.

"A
new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing
its opponents and making them see the light, but
rather because its opponents eventually die, and
a new generation grows up that is familiar with
it." Max Planck

What is Plasma?

Plasma is the fourth state of matter.
It differs from solids, liquids and gases in so far
as it's atoms are divided into free-floating 'negative'
electrons and 'positive' ions (an atom which has lost
its electron/s). It is sometimes referred to as an ionized
gas.

Students are generally taught about only
three states of matter, and when Plasma does get a mention,
little importance is assigned. Not only should plasma
be added to the list, but the order should be reversed
to put it in first place. The reasons for this will
become clear.

The term Plasma was borrowed from blood
plasma in order to describe its almost life-like and
self-organising properties.

Plasma sometimes emits light when under
the excitation of electrical and magnetic fields. Polar
auroras bear witness to this fact.

Where is it?

Plasma is almost everywhere. At
least ninety-nine percent of the known universe is, in
fact, matter in its plasma state! The surface of the sun
is plasma; not hot gas, which is quite a different thing.

Plasma in space consists entirely of
ions and electrons, and is thus very energetic or 'hot'.
Only when cooled does it form the matter to which we
are familiar here on Earth: solids, liquids, and gases.

Because plasma remains electrically charged
in space, it is influenced more by electromagnetic forces
than gravity. In fact space, once considered mostly
empty, has been found to be alive with plasma. Vast
flows of charged particles have been discovered spanning
hundreds-of-thousands of light years across interstellar
space.

The most familiar examples of electrical
plasmas here on earth are neon signs and lighting, television
screens, and electrical arc welding machines. Fire and
Lightning are also forms of Plasma.

What does it do?

Just about everything! Plasma is an excellent conductor of electricity, and
because of its free-flowing electrons its conductive
properties far surpass those of copper and gold.

Due to its interaction with electromagnetism,
plasmas display a complexity in structure far exceeding
that of matter in gaseous, liquid, or solid states.
It has a tendency to form into cellular and filamentary
structures.

These structures derive from the fact
that a charged particle flow (or current) produces a
ring of magnetic fields around itself, 'pinching' plasma
into multi-filamentary strands, as can be seen on both
cosmic and more localised scales. Pictured right is
a novelty plasma-lamp typical of those available on
the high street.

Mainstream misconceptions

While conventional astronomy maps magnetism, electric
currents are excluded on the mistaken basis that they
are of no significance in space.

Working from the inertia of this prior belief, astrophysicists
have a tendency to talk in euphemisms. 'Electron rains'
and 'clouds of ionized gas' are just two popular examples. From
a conservative perspective these terms might seem easier
to grasp than the behaviour of more ethereal plasma,
but they are, nonetheless, obfuscations. In reality
we are talking about electrodynamic phenomena.

Men
occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them
pick themselves up and carry on as if nothing ever happened."
Winston Churchill

It is important
to understand that gravity based models were codified
before space travel and high powered telescopes. Back
then our galaxy, The Milky Way, was considered the entirety
of the universe ... and electrically sterile! Instead
of trying to shoehorn what we now see into old models,
Plasma Cosmology respects the progress of the past, but
is not constrained by it. Scientific theories, by definition,
are vulnerable to being falsified. Science moves on.

"It
is an embarrassment that the dominant forms of matter
in the universe remain hypothetical!" Jim Peebles

The role of Plasma in The Universe

Plasma cosmology
has gone beyond hypothesis and analysis. There are problems
with part three, of course, experimentation on universal
scales, but the fact is that plasmas are highly scalable,
and super-computing capabilities have enabled us to model
plasma behaviours on galactic scales ... utilising only
a few simple formulae.

These models are consistent with reality.
Big Bang cosmology, by contrast, fails to adequately
account for the 'clumpiness' and filamentary structures
that we observe.

Plasma cosmology does NOT rely on abstract
mathematical modelling or an increasing array of exotic
hypotheticals like Dark Matter and Dark Energy!

Were Sherlock Holmes a Cosmologist,
he might have said 'It's Filamentary my Dear Watson.'

Blogs and more

Some of my old blogs
(in the guise of The Soupdragon) can be viewed here.